Daijiworld Media Network - Panaji

Panaji, Aug 19: Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) president Tushar Kelkar on Wednesday hit back at the Congress over criticism of the BJP youth wing's protest at Dabolim Airport, calling the opposition party's press conference “baseless” and “fact-less” and defending the demonstration as peaceful.

Kelkar alleged that the Congress had unnecessarily dragged BJP workers and Goa BJP president Damodar Naik into the controversy. He said the press conference held by the Youth Congress reflected frustration within the party.

“First of all, this baseless, fact-less press conference was held by a frustrated Youth Congress and their entire team,” Kelkar said.

He suggested that Congress leaders may have faced criticism from AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge during his visit to Goa. Kelkar alleged that Kharge may have questioned the party leadership over the controversy during his first visit to the state.

The BJYM leader said the dispute was linked to the Congress' position on the national song, 'Vande Mataram', and defended the BJP's demand for its complete rendition.

“For so many years people have been singing two stanzas of Vande Mataram, and no one protested against it. But now that Parliament has enacted a law, if you are going to sing it, then sing all six stanzas; otherwise do not sing,” he said.

Kelkar argued that decisions taken by Parliament and laws enacted by it must be respected. Drawing a comparison with national observances, he said people followed rules such as dry days because they were established by law.

“There are dry days; October 2 is a dry day, and everyone respects it because it is the law. Even though Gandhi did not request it, October 2 is still a dry day, and we respect it. Why? Because it was done in Parliament,” he said.

Kelkar also referred to the historical changes made to 'Vande Mataram', alleging that the song was reduced from six stanzas to two in 1928 due to political pressure.

“Under the leadership of Rabindranath Tagore, when the Congress worked in the interest of the country, they used to sing all of them. But in 1928, driven by Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah's pressure and the pressure of the Muslim League, they reduced the six stanzas to two stanzas,” he alleged.

He questioned objections to references to Hindu deities in the later portions of the song.

“In the fourth stanza, it mentions Durga Dashapraharana Dharini. How does this insult any religion, or how does it insult their identity or religion?” Kelkar asked.

Defending the BJYM protest at Dabolim Airport, Kelkar maintained that the demonstration was peaceful and alleged that Youth Congress workers provoked the protesters.

“Our protest was peaceful, as you all must have seen. The Youth Congress workers came there and first started by throwing bouquets at us,” he alleged.

Kelkar also invoked the 2022 incident in Punjab when Prime Minister Narendra Modi's convoy was briefly held up during a protest. He questioned the Congress' criticism of security concerns surrounding the Goa incident.

“Those who talk about our protest now, when the Congress government was in Punjab, they allowed a protest to block the Prime Minister's cavalcade for two hours at one spot,” Kelkar said.

He questioned why the Congress had not raised similar concerns over national security, Z+ security and NSG protocols at that time.

Kelkar rejected suggestions of an intelligence or police failure in Goa and instead blamed the Congress leadership.

“This is not an intelligence failure. This is the failure of the Congress party, the failure of Girish Chodankar's leadership,” he said.

He also questioned the Congress' decision to blame the Goa Police and Crime Branch over the incident. According to Kelkar, the BJYM protest was organised to oppose what the party considered an insult to 'Vande Mataram'.

“On their President's very first visit, they did this and showed disrespect to Vande Mataram, plain and simple,” he said.

Kelkar said the BJP youth wing would continue to protest against Congress leaders over the issue.

“We showed black flags, and we will continue to show them to Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, because we will not tolerate the insult of Vande Mataram,” he said.

Reiterating the BJYM's position, Kelkar said the national song should either be sung in its entirety or not sung at all.

“If you want to sing only two stanzas, don't sing at all. If you want to sing, sing all six stanzas; otherwise, do not sing Vande Mataram,” he said.